Northern Rock

Mr. Philip Hammond
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual value of new mortgages that Northern Rock will need to originate in order to prevent a non-asset covenant breach occurring of the Granite securitisation vehicles.

Angela Eagle
[holding answer 25 February 2008]: The sale of mortgages from Northern Rock into Granite is a commercial decision for Northern Rock.

The estimated value of mortgages that Northern Rock would need to sell into Granite in order to avoid a non-asset trigger is a commercially sensitive matter.